Kawasaki stabbings

The Kawasaki stabbings (川崎殺傷事件, Kawasaki Sasshō Jiken) occurred on the morning of 28 May 2019 in the Tama ward of Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, four blocks west of Noborito Station.^[4] Two people were murdered,^[5] and 18 others were injured after being stabbed at a city bus stop by 51-year-old Ryuichi Iwasaki (岩崎隆一 Iwasaki Ryūichi).^[2][6] After carrying out the attack, Iwasaki committed suicide by stabbing himself in the neck.^[7][5][1]

Kawasaki stabbings
Makeshift memorial for the victims
Kawasaki stabbings (Kanagawa Prefecture) Show map of Kanagawa Prefecture Kawasaki stabbings (Japan) Show map of Japan Location of the Kawasaki stabbings within Kanagawa Prefecture
Location	Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Coordinates	35°37′19.8″N 139°33′57.7″E / 35.622167°N 139.566028°E / 35.622167; 139.566028
Date	28 May 2019 (2019-05-28) 7:44 a.m. (JST)
Attack type	Mass stabbing, double-murder, murder-suicide
Weapons	Two Yanagi ba All-purpose knife Sashimi bōchō
Deaths	3 (including the perpetrator)^[1]
Injured	18^[2]
Perpetrator	Ryuichi Iwasaki^[3]

Incident

Kawasaki city fire department said it received an emergency call at 7:44 a.m. JST,^[8] and responded to an incident in which a man attacked students waiting at a bus stop with yanagi ba, long and thin knives used in Japanese cuisine to prepare sashimi and nigiri sushi, in both hands.^[9][10] The students targeted were identified by the NHK public broadcaster as all being girls.^[11] A bus driver who witnessed the attack claimed that they saw the man holding two knives and he had walked towards the bus before stabbing the children. Authorities told reporters the man attacked people randomly as they lined up to enter the bus.^[12]

The Kawasaki Fire Department reported that sixteen elementary school students from Caritas Elementary School, a private Catholic school,^[13] and three adults were injured in the attack, separately from the suspect.^[8]

Perpetrator

Ryuichi Iwasaki (岩崎 隆一, Iwasaki Ryūichi), a 51-year-old man suspected of carrying out the attack, was believed to be a resident of Kawasaki's Asao ward.^[14][15] He was found lying on the ground of the scene, bleeding from a self-inflicted stab wound to the neck. The two 30 centimetres (12 in) bloodied sashimi knives were found nearby, and two more knives, a 25 centimetres (9.8 in) all-purpose knife and a 20 centimetres (7.9 in) sashimi bōchō were found in a backpack that had been in his possession and dropped at a nearby FamilyMart.^[16] The suspect was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.^[14][17]

Iwasaki was an unemployed hikikomori, which is someone who takes withdrawing from society to an extreme. He was living in his elderly uncle's home. Before the incident, he had a dispute with his neighbors but would not talk with his uncle about what had happened.^[18]

Victims

The deceased were identified as Hanako Kuribayashi (栗林 華子, Kuribayashi Hanako), an 11-year-old student, and Satoshi Oyama (小山 智史, Oyama Satoshi), a 39-year-old Foreign Ministry employee who worked primarily as a diplomat to Myanmar.^[19][20][21]

They were declared dead at Musashi Kosugi Hospital [ja]. Some survivors were also treated at this hospital, as well at St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Kawasaki Municipal Tama Hospital [ja], and Shin-Yurigaoka General Hospital [ja].^[14]

Related incidents

Main article: ja:元農水事務次官長男殺害事件

Several days after the incident, former MAFF Vice Minister Hideaki Kumazawa killed his hikikomori son, Eiichiro, fearing that he would commit similar crimes to those of which Iwasaki committed, as he had been violent towards his family members as well as being described as reclusive.^[22][23] Kumazawa would be sentenced to 6 years in prison in 2021.^[24]

See also

•  Japan portal

• Etajima stabbings
• Osaka school massacre
• Shimonoseki Station massacre

References

1. "Child among three dead in Japan knife attack". BBC News. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
2. . テレ朝news (in Japanese). tv asahi. ANN. 31 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
3. The Japan Times
4. . NHK World. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
5. "Two feared dead, 17 hurt after Japan mass stabbing". Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
6. . 読売新聞オンライン (in Japanese). The Yomiuri Shimbun. 4 June 2019. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
7. "Thirteen schoolgirls among those wounded in Japan stabbing: Kyodo". Reuters. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
8. Wakatsuki, Yoko; Ogura, Junko (28 May 2019). "Two killed including girl, 12, in Japan stabbing spree". CNN. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
9. "Kawasaki stabbing rampage leaves three dead, including schoolgirl and suspect; 16 injured". The Japan Times. 28 May 2019. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
10. . Jiji Press (in Japanese). 28 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2 May 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
11. Rich, Motoko; Ueno, Hisako (27 May 2019). "16 People, Including 13 Children, Stabbed in Japan Knife Attack". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
12. Yamaguchi, Mari (27 May 2019). "Japan stabbing: Schoolchildren, adults stabbed in Kawasaki City attack". New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
13. Leung, Hillary (27 May 2019). "Knife Attack in Japan Leaves One Dead, 15 Wounded". Time. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
14. "Stabbing spree near Tokyo leaves 2 victims and suspect dead, 14 injured". Mainichi Daily News. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
15. Ogata, Mugi (28 May 2019). "川崎"通り魔事件"岩崎容疑者の同級生が語る素顔「おとなしいが、切れると豹変する奴」". AERA dot (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 April 2023.
16. . Jiji Press (in Japanese). 30 May 2019. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
17. McCurry, Justin (28 May 2019). "Japan mass stabbing: schoolgirl killed and 16 injured in attack in Kawasaki". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
18. "川崎で児童ら刺される". Jiji Press (in Japanese). May 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
19. . The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
20. "自民・岸田氏「痛恨の極み」 亡くなった小山さん悼む". The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 29 May 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
21. "「最愛の娘を奪われ、深い悲しみに」 女児遺族コメント全文 川崎殺傷". The Sankei News (in Japanese). 29 May 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
22. Yamada, Nobufumi (3 June 2019). . The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
23. . Kyodo News+. 20 October 2020. Archived from the original on 16 October 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
24. . The Japan Times. 3 February 2021. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2023.